


The Butterfly Bane

by Tziput13



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Beating, Blood and Injury, Family, Family Angst, Friendship, Gen, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parallel Universes, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:22:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29782290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tziput13/pseuds/Tziput13
Summary: Star, desperate to find Moon, takes a harsh decision and finds herself in a Mewni much different from the one that is her home. Alone in an unfamiliar world among people who do not recognize her, she tries her best to fix what went wrong in this universe... starting from the person that should have been her mother.
Relationships: Moon Butterfly & Star Butterfly
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	1. Her Choice

**Author's Note:**

> This story went through many iterations, and what you're about to read is the start of the final one. Such a development means that the current story is very different from most of its previous incarnations, but what they still share is one, simple point in the premise. In order to avoid spoilers, I won't go in the specifics for now, but just be aware that while this story can technically be identified as an 'AU' and features AU versions of quite a few characters, **it still features canon!Star as the protagonist.** What I mean here will hopefully become clear as the story goes on.
> 
> Chronology-wise, the story is set between Season 3 and Season 4 of the show.
> 
> Some suggestive content will be present, so please check the tags in case there is anything you'd rather not encounter while reading.

The portal opened up in an instant, and a blonde girl came out of it.

Star Butterfly didn't know how to explain why she had come here in the first place. A lot had happened in so little time, and she felt like she still needed time to digest the most recent events. The people around her definitely still had to do so since she had declared that she wanted to step down as a queen of Mewni and let Eclipsa take her place… despite the fact that the alternative was never a viable option. _She had told her to keep the wand,_ after all. Which was a harsh decision to begin with…

Most of her thoughts had gone rampant and wild since she did that, and her quest to find Moon had yet to yield any results. Without any plan to follow or any good leads, her search for a solution had finally led her in this dimension… though why she specifically came here, she wasn't sure of it herself. She wanted to do something here… but there was no way it would give her anything she didn't already know.

Sighing, Star decided to focus on the present and call the man he wanted to talk with for a bit. "Father Time?" she shouted in the distance.

There was no sign of the presence of the master of 'time-time' nearby, which was worrying. Star didn't know much about the Time Dimension, and since her first encounter with him, when she risked freezing the fabric of time itself for all eternity, Father Time had grown accustomed to travel a long distance away from the area where he used to reside, thanks to his new hamster wagon. If no trails had been left from the wheel vehicle she and Marco had set up for him, which was far from being a small machine, that meant that Father Time had not returned here for a while.

He could be anywhere, and this dimension wasn't a small one…

"Father Time! Come on, I just need to have a word with you! No weird requests, I promise!" Star tried again to summon the guy. She expected him to pop out of the mud somewhere, laughing to himself as he loitered around while basking in the wet terrain. Or to see him rushing into the scene, skidding towards her and ramming into her for the second time.

But he did not, and Star had only a feeble breeze blowing on her face as an answer.

"Gah!" she eventually groaned. "I'm losing my time here. No thanks to you, Father Time!"

She turned around and checked the portal. Marco had opened it himself for her, but she'd asked him to wait back in Mewni because she wanted to deal with it herself. Knowing him, he was probably still waiting for her on the other side. Sighing, she made a step towards the portal with the intention of going back to Mewni.

"Is there something here that is of any interest to you, Princess?"

Star froze where she was. Of all people…

She slowly turned around and showed her best, and most importantly honest, frown at the enormous being. In what seemed to be his home dimension, Omnitraxus Prime looked much mightier than his usual, floating-skull form. But Star was unfazed—in fact, the sight of the Magic High Commission member had only the effect of making her mad.

"Not something I'd want to talk with you anyway!" she blurted out, making no attempt at hiding her displeasure. Omnitraxus raised a cloud-made eyebrow, but he didn't rebut to her words.

"Uh… let's ignore the rough start. Now, Princess—"

"I am not a princess… not in the way you mean it! Eclipsa is queen now, _therefore_ Meteora is the princess and rightful heir to the throne! You better pound that into that thick skull of yours Omnitraxus!"

"Right, right," Omnitraxus dismissed her correction quickly. "Well, as a member of the Magic High Commission—"

"That does not help your stance with me in the slightest. In fact, I don't know why I'm standing here listening to you. Bye, seeing you late, ve-eeery late, better yet—never!" she turned around.

"Pri—I mean, Star!" Omnitraxus had finally abandoned his neutral tone for a more serious, affronted one. "Look, we may have had our, uh, divergences, but as master of Space-Time it is still my duty to check on the ones who appear to have a problem with the current flow of the timeline, be that ours or any other. What is it that you wanted to ask Father Time about, Star?"

At first, Star ignored him, but as she got closer to the portal, she felt like the words Omnitraxus had said were having more and more of an effect on her. She remembered how he had helped her when her predicament with a math query had almost demolished the entire sub-universe. Besides, he had to have quite a good knowledge of time-stuff, just as much if not better than Father Time.

Yet, Omnitraxus was still part of the Magic High Commission, the group of people that she had discovered were at the bottom of many of the problems that had affected her family as a whole, and she had yet to see any sign of regret in him. Not trusting him or the others had basically become the one piece of truth she was one-hundred per cent sure of, in the web of lies that she found her family was trapped into.

A thought crossed her mind, making her remember about the main issue that was bothering her. Her mom…

She was still missing. And no one had any clue where she could be… her included.

Star stopped to walk right before she could take a step into the portal itself. She passed a hand over her face, groaning at the thought of what she was about to do.

Omnitraxus simply waited in silence as she slowly turned around to face him again, and the portal closed itself behind her, having depleted its power. Star knew she could technically open portals by herself, even if it was a demanding magic expense, so she wasn't worried… though she couldn't help but feel like it was a message of sorts. _'Well, I guess there's no going back now…'_

"Don't you think I trust you now, Omnitraxus!" Star suddenly exclaimed, agitating a hand towards the magical being. "I still think you're a traitor, no less!"

"Yes, the same traitor who basically saved the kingdom from total chaos," he replied nonchalantly.

"Chaos? Why do you—you know, forget about it, I'm wasting my time arguing with you!"

"Agreed, Star."

Omnitraxus sat down in front of Star—despite his size, he didn't seem to weigh as much since the terrain didn't give any sign of breaking once he let his body rest on it. "Let's keep this conversation related to the current business, and then we'll part and go our own ways. You may speak, Star."

Star huffed, but mentally thanked Omni for being at least partially aware of the pointlessness of their argument, even if for the wrong reasons. Boy, at least the master of space-time wasn't Rhombulus. She sat down as well and hid her mouth behind her knees, her eyes fixed on the ground.

She spent a few seconds putting her thoughts in order, since part of her had wanted to go and pay a visit to Father Time also to have a good, casual conversation with someone who she could trust, at least partially. Omni definitely didn't meet the conditions, so she was left to her own thoughts before she could actually question him.

Omnitraxus gave a look to the surroundings, but before he could open his skull mouth to address her, Star finally started talking. "I need to know if there is a way to fix things. Things about… everything."

He was taken aback by the request. "You, uh… you will have to elaborate a bit more on that, Princ—er, Star," he managed to say as a reply, almost wary of what his words could cause as a reaction.

Star frowned and let out a groan. "I just… I… ugh! Omnitraxus, you are the master of space-time, right? You do know stuff about time and whatnot. You're the expert on the matter."

"Yes, I am. The help I can provide depends on whether or not this is space-time related, though."

"I don't know… but maybe you can answer. I want to fix everything that has happened. This, everything that went down since I came back from Earth… even before that, it happened just because of mistakes made by everyone. By me, by you, by everyone else!"

Omni didn't appreciate Star low-key accusing him of having made a mistake, but let her talk as she began to ramble.

"Meteora happened because of mistakes from everyone. What happened to Eclipsa resulted from even more mistakes, misconceptions and stubbornness! And then, when I tried to fix things… I ended up making more mistakes of my own! Maybe I can't fix the past, Omni, but you should have some kind of way to at least fix the present. Right?"

Omni didn't like where this was going. "Oh, no, princess, I don't think that is a good idea if I understand that correctly. Time is not to be messed with; the effects of time are something we constantly have to live with, but we must never do the other way around—affecting time ourselves. That could have dire, very dire consequences."

"But there must be a way to prevent any of this from happening. You, or Father Time, should know something about it. I should be able to fix it, I _want to fix it,_ I wantto make things better for everyone! I can stop Toffee and stop him before he can take us aback and destroy the wand, I can make Ms. Heinous understand her past without turning her into a giant monster hellbent on annihilating me and my family, I can stop Eclipsa and mom from fighting each other over her! And if you won't help me with this, I'll see if anyone else can do the same!"

Omnitraxus was of course worried about the prospect of Star doing something she shouldn't do. Father Time wasn't really someone that agreed with his meticulous methods concerning the conservation of the time continuum, so the same request from Star might end up having very bad results. Glossaryck forbid if Star somehow managed to find the river of time and meet Reynaldo… that could result in a downright disaster.

He had to explain it to her, make her understand her point. "Listen, Star, I do understand your concern. Losing your mother can be a hard time to go through, and—"

"I didn't _lose_ my mother! She's just missing, and I just have to find her!"

Omnitraxus wondered if this was really what Star was thinking… of if she was trying to delay the inevitable conclusion. That Moon was nowhere to be found. And that she was… gone.

Festivia had managed to accept that her parents were gone far faster… what was different this time? He would've liked to question Star directly, but he decided against it.

Instead, he replied, "Yes, she is, but I feel you're going to extreme lengths to find her, Star. Even if you don't trust me, at least hear me out, just this once… do I say the truth when I say you want to go back in time, Star? Is that, put it simply, your request? To fix your mistakes by erasing them from the time continuum?"

Star looked up at Omnitraxus, her eyes wet. She nodded, unable to lie to the Magic High Commission member. She just wasn't in the mood to do so.

"Good. And I'm sure that you should at least know the basics of why that would not be a good idea, right?"

"I know those as well, but how can I be sure you are completely right, Omni? You don't trust me, perhaps; then, let me go with someone you do trust. Marco's a great squire, for starters, even Tom can help me, he's the prince of Underworld not just in names. Heck, you want to get Hekapoo and Rhombulus involved and send them to keep me in check—do it! I don't care, I just want to go! I want to find my mother! I want all of this to end!"

"I'd rather not get Rhombulus involved, but that's not the point. There is inevitability in time, Star, and we can't do much as it progresses and Father Time keeps doing his job. But once it has progressed, what it leaves behind itself is a very delicate trail of events, matter and modifications on said matter. Only people who know what they're doing and have the magic skills needed to do it safely should be let into the past of their own universe… and even then, I'd have second thoughts about letting them through. The smallest of mistakes, the tiniest of modifications, could have unforeseen effects."

"But there must be another way, Omni! Listen, you once told me that there were multiple universes, right? Every one of them with a copy of me? You didn't seem too much preoccupied in telling me about all of this back then."

"That was first because, unless you tried to solve the math problem, your universe would've gone to shambles and devoured by the others, which I'd argue was an even bigger of a problem, and second, because that's different. Time is similar for all universes, but space-time can be rather different. Universes are essentially independent from each other, unlike timelines."

"Wait, so you mean that I could travel to other parallel universes without doing any damage?"

"Well, yes, that is indeed possible. I'd suggest not doing it anyway, though. Some universes could still be inevitably modified by a visit to the point of damaging them beyond a point of no return, while others could be dangerous for the travellers themselves. I prefer to keep access to them limited to a simple spectating presence, even for me who oversees over the entire thing, and I have no intention to try and change that."

Star didn't ask any more questions. She simply sat down in front of the giant humanoid form of Omnitraxus and put both hands on her face. She sniffed once.

"Star…" Omnitraxus took the initiative. "I know this is hard, and we have differing opinions on your last decision about the throne… and that's a euphemism; but this is not the right solution for your current issue. I am being fully honest here… go and keep looking for the Que—er, your mother. Perhaps she is still in Mewni, somewhere hidden from clean sight but still there. Once she is back by your side, we will both be better off. But leave these thoughts concerning time aside."

She didn't reply, though her sniffs stopped. She looked down at the terrain of the Time Dimension, refusing to look up to Omnitraxus. The Magic High Commission member decided that this was enough and slowly rotated his body with the intention of getting back to his job as a space-time controller.

Then, he heard something. Footsteps, fast approaching. And when he whirled around, he was just able to catch the glimpse of blonde hair before something violently dug their way into his tummy.

"Ow! _Star!"_

* * *

Star knew she didn't have much time, so she saved herself from showing disgust upon her entrance into Omnitraxus' guts, nor did she turn back to check if she was being followed.

Looking around, she saw there were no floating rocks moving in the time-plane, so she decided to make her own, opening both of her hands and charging up a spell.

When she was done, a pink cloud was hovering in front of her. "Oh, hi Star!"

"No time, Cloudy!" Star jumped on her flying companion. "Into Omnitraxus' stomach, now!"

Cloudy didn't question his master any further and zapped forward... just in time to avoid an enormous hand emerging out of thin air to try to catch him and Star.

"Princ—Star! Star Butterfly!" Omnitraxus' voice boomed. He was angry, apparently, but his voice also betrayed urgency and worry. Whether he was worried about her or what she was about to do, Star had no clue, but she couldn't care less about what he thought. She had heard enough and had already decided what she needed to do.

What she needed to _try_ to do.

"Star, wait!" Omnitraxus was now fully visible, moving fast in pursuit of Cloudy. "You don't know what you are doing! This is not a true solution!"

Star didn't reply but got a handful of Cloudy's fluffy body in a fist and pulled on it, steering him in another direction, making Omnitraxus stumble as he tried to change direction as well. "Where are you…" she muttered, "I know you must be here… somewhere…"

"Star, please, listen to my words!" Omnitraxus pressed on. "There is nothing helpful to find in alternate universes. You don't know what you're doing—trying to make entrance into one can end up with something far, far different than what you expect! You can't fully control where, or even _when_ you will enter that universe, nor are you fully sure what its inhabitants are going to be like! Star, stop this madness!"

Star didn't even think of giving a reply. She steered Cloudy once again, and finally, she saw them. Mirroring crystals… and there were hundreds of them.

She looked back to Omnitraxus, then thought fast about a way to gain time. "Cloudy, now you'll act like a fly. A very annoying fly!"

"At your orders, m'lady! Bzz-bzz!" Cloudy chirped. Star jumped on the nearest, horizontal-positioned mirror, and Cloudy dashed towards Omnitraxus, starting to buzz around his head.

"What in the?!" Omnitraxus started to flail his hands around his cranium in an attempt to shoo the cloud speel away. "Oh, for crying out loud! I hate bugs! Always buzzing in my skull"

"I'm a fly! I'm a fly! And I'm very annoying! Buzz buzz!" Cloudy sang, much to Omnitraxus' chagrin, as he flew through the earholes of the master of space-time.

"I didn't need to be reminded of how this skull originally came to be in the first place," Omnitraxus groaned. He prepared himself to try and shoo away the annoying cloud, not before giving a glance to Star herself.

"Star, heed my words! This is for your own good. You must stop now!"

Star, once again, did not listen to him. Her full attention was directed to the mirror she was standing on. There was a reflection of herself, who stared back at her… except that the reflection was a cat version of her.

When Star looked up to the various mirrors, she saw more of those reflections as well. She recognized some she had already seen when she had previously paid a visit to Omnitraxus, but a lot of them were new. However, this time, all of the reflections were looking at her, rather than just facing forward just like they did when Omnitraxus showed her the mirrors.

Star knew that this was normal, since they were technically reflections… but it still unnerved her somewhat.

In any case, this wasn't what she was looking for. Putting her hands forward, Star thought about what words she would need, then she went in.

"Mirrors! Doors to new universes… or whatever you like to be called, I don't know. Anyway, please… show me more than just me. Show me someone else, someone I care about… that I want to see. Show me Moon Butterfly!"

The mirrors surprisingly complied before Star could even fire a spell to make her point clearer. Instantly, the Alternate Stars disappeared… and their place, Alternate Moons appeared.

Star was entrapped by the view. It had been weeks since she last saw her mother… far too long, in her opinion. And now, there were dozens of them, looking at her neutrally… and some of them were even smiling heartily.

Perhaps, that was just an impression she felt due to the moment… or maybe it wasn't, and the expressions from the mirrored images were genuine. She didn't care. She didn't care that _all_ of the Moons were identical to how her mother looked, even the one below her—in the crystal that originally showed a cat Star.

"Star, cease this instant!" Omnitraxus called out, but then Cloudy flew directly into his mouth. He started to cough as he tried to choke out the magical puff of vapour.

A tear escaped through one of Star's eyes. She scanned throughout the Alt-Moons, seeing all types of alternate visions of her mother—but all very similar to each other. She looked through them all, trying to find something that showed her she was choosing the right one. But finally, her eyes rested on a specific version on a mirror not too far away from her.

It was _identical_ to how she remembered Moon. Head to toe, same clothes, same hairstyle, and same crown, like the others—but the look in her eyes, the hands intertwined. Moon stood in her reflection image, weakly smiling at Star.

This didn't just look like her mom. The reflection acted like her as well… she was sure of it.

"Mom…"

" _Cough!"_ Cloud flew out of Omnitraxus' mouth with a _'weeee'_ before disappearing in a puff, having depleted its spell energy. _"_ Princ—Star! You're putting yourself in danger!"

Finally, Star deigned herself to turn around. She saw that Omnitraxus was now flying at full speed, speeding towards her with his hands forward.

Star jumped towards the mirror with her mom and took hold of it with a hand, holding on it in order to not fall off. Omnitraxus forced himself to stop moving once he realized what Star was about to do.

After that, he hovered quietly and slowly, moving in her direction.

"Star…" Omnitraxus' words came out calmer, calculated. "There is nothing for you out there in that parallel universe that will help you find our mother. Those… they're not her. They're just alternate versions of her. And they all look like her, because you asked them to."

"I… I know, Omni…" Star said through gritted teeth. "B-but… but I don't know what to do. I don't know! I—I need advice, and not from a liar like you. I need real advice… I need something to help me in this, I need… _anything_. And if she can help me herself, even if it's just an alternate Moon…"

She cried out. _"SO BE IT!"_

Omnitraxus dashed forward, but he was far, too far from her. Star turned to the mirror and looked through it at the Moon who was the most similar to her mother. "I'm sorry, mom… but I need you."

Star touched the mirror with her free hand, and nothing happened. Undeterred, she closed her eyes and a bright light engulfed her. Once the flash was gone, her butterfly wings flapped as she extended the six arms typical of her Butterfly Form out.

"Star Butterfly!" Omnitraxus called out. Right now, he seemed to have abandoned the more sympathetic approach. "You're going to regret this, Star! You are not prepared for this!"

She was hovering right in front of her mom now. Omnitraxus shouted again, but she wasn't listening—she knew he'd reach her in moments, and she didn't have time to waste.

"Mom…" she whispered, a bit to herself, a bit to the reflected image. Moon's smile faltered for a moment when Star extended her six hands towards the mirror, and that made her hesitate.

Then, she frowned and released the portal opening spell, engulfing the mirror and turning it into a dimensional portal. Unlike other portals, this one was particularly small in size, but still big enough to let her in. It was fully white, and its bright light would've almost blinded her if it wasn't for her empowered magic form.

She felt something moving behind her, and she dashed forward before Omnitraxus could catch her. In the blink of an eye, she lost control of her mind and everything became white… and she was gone.

* * *

Star groaned. She was… lying down. And wet.

It took her some time to recover her senses, and even then, it was hard to do so considering her state. She was cold, no, she was _freezing._

"Uugh…" she groaned again as she managed to sit up. She scanned her surroundings and realized why she was wet: snow. A white cover of snow covered the ground all around her, including the humanoid form that was printed right in front of her—her previous lying position.

' _Did I just… pass out?'_ Star wondered. He tried to remember what she was doing. Omnitraxus… the time dimension. Mom.

The memories came back to her quickly once the thought of Moon crossed her mind. She stood up in alarm, looking around as if the Queen of Mewni (well, ex-queen) could appear any moment, but there was no living being save for the faraway sounds of birds chirping and some ominous-looking trees.

Star's mind was having a hard time trying to make up what had just happened. Was she in the new universe? Why did she pass out? She didn't even remember how the trip through the portal went—normally, such trips wouldn't even be considered as so since travelling through portals did not take any time to happen, but this had to not have been the case. She even was in her Butterfly Form when she crossed the portal!

Perhaps, Omnitraxus was right when he said she wasn't prepared… but she was there now, and alive. _'Take that, Omni! Serves you right!'_

Her thoughts ran back to her mother. If she had indeed succeeded in travelling to the alternate universe, that meant that Moon was here, and well… The Moon of this dimension at least, but she didn't pay much attention to that.

She considered her options and decided that a direct approach was her best bet. Not just because it was more on par with her style—she hoped that even Alt-Moon knew basics about alternate universes and would understand her once she explained who she was and what predicament she was in.

Perhaps she would scold her as well—technically she deserved it… but she was willing to pay that price if it meant seeing her mother again. And asking for her advice.

She gave a glance to the trees around her, then it clicked. This was not just some random forest…she recognized the forms of those trees, oh so menacing to the foreigner's eye. This was the Forest of Certain Death… and it meant that not only she was still in Mewni, but she was also relatively close to the capital and Butterfly Castle as well!

Star, neglecting the fact she was basically drenched by now, ran away from the clearing. She had a hunch that she recognized this specific part of the forest, and if that was the case… she was _very close!_

It took her five minutes of running through the undergrowth before she reached another area devoid of trees. No, not just a clearing, an entire barren hillside. It was late in the night, but the moon was particularly luminescent that night, enough to let Star see in the distance.

At this point, her theories about her position were basically confirmed. She couldn't believe her luck—she was right on the side of the woods facing the castle! She just needed to get up to the top of the hillside to watch the capital in its full nightly glory!

She marched through the snow and, huffing and puffing, she finally managed to reach the top. Star panted but didn't even sit down to rest, eager to watch the castle in the same shape she remembered before Meteora destroyed it in her rampage.

Except…

The castle was _still in ruins._ No… not even that. Major parts of it were completely gone as well. Entire towers were missing, including the main dome; walls had disappeared and no more protected the inner chambers and hallways from the weather. The castle didn't just look like it had been raided—someone had tried to completely destroy it, and they had succeeded.

And what about the town below the castle?

Razed, demolished. Only a few buildings were still standing, and even then, they were barely recognizable. And the same could be said for the outer walls that used to protect the inhabitants one could only imagine used to live there.

That was the landscape that greeted Star, once she finally looked at what used to be her home.


	2. Ruins of Memory

Star didn't want to believe what she was seeing at first. She knew that your eyes could deceive you, making you see images that weren't real—she'd seen plenty of movies on Earth that featured mirages and the such… It happened all the time.

Yet… she was not in a horizon-spanning desert, nor did she remember stepping into the dungeon of a particularly cruel magical being who wanted to play tricks with her mind. Heck, if anything she should've been the magical being doing that in the first place!

And she also definitely didn't let her father convince her to share a drink of the oldest variety of the Johannsen seasoned wines.

No… there was no mistake in what was visible from the barren hillside in the Forest of Certain Death. As much as she disliked, as much as it aggravated her, what she was looking at _was_ her home, ruined beyond repair… but still recognizable.

Well… it used to be her home. A version of it, that is… but still her home.

"No, no, no!" Star cried, grabbing her head as she turned her face around, refusing to look any longer at the grim scenery. "This can't be happening. This isn't the future! No!"

It couldn't be the future! Omnitraxus was supposed to handle alternative realities, right? Time was more of a thing Father Time dealt with; she already knew that. She remembered something about a giraffe guy that was mentioned a couple of times in the spell book as well, she vaguely recalled Glossaryck saying something about him and some type of time flow thing he was tasked with… she could not remember his name. Still, not Omnitraxus! This had to be the present, even if she was in an alternate reality!

If that was true though, it meant that the present here was much worse off than her own dimension. Her mother was just missing in her original version of Mewni, she simply had to find out where the Firstborn had sent her—as difficult and infuriating that was. The castle had been damaged by Meteora back home… but here, half of the towers were downright missing, including the main and largest one, and the town around it had basically ceased to exist long before Star came here. If Mewni itself was destroyed, then her mother…

"No, no!" Star refused to let that thought go on any longer. She looked at the ruined city afar, her eyes wet, but frowning in defiance. "You are still out there, Mom. Everyone is out there! You just… you were defeated in a big battle and had to abandon home along with everyone. That must be what happened!"

Star took that explanation and held on to it almost desperately. She passed an arm on her eyes, drying off the few tears she had shed, her mood rapidly improving. "Yes, that _has to be_ what happened here. And maybe I can fix it! I just need to—"

To find her mother.

Star let herself fall down on the snow as it came down to her that she was back to square one. She _still_ didn't know where her mother was. And if she wasn't in the Mewni capital, she could be literally anywhere… just like the situation in her home dimension.

Then, she shook her head. "No, I can't let this get to me. It can't be that hard to find her… here, she didn't go missing because a weird magical unicorn teleported her somewhere. This time, I can find a true lead, and follow it until I find her."

She looked at the ruined town from her position. "I just need to find a clue to start things off… and I already know where to start searching. Nothing to be anxious about!"

* * *

Star's mood kept getting better as she left the higher parts of the forest and got closer to Butterfly Castle. The Forest of Certain Death was basically identical to the one from her dimension, and she had no trouble dealing with the dangers that lurked within the forest. Carnivorous plants simply got a haymaker in the snout from her, and the one wolf-like creature who tried to growl at her was sent off running on its tail when Star roared back at it.

It was like being back home, and she thought that it was the biggest reason why she shouldn't think too much about what went wrong here. This was still Mewni, it was still her home… the familiarity she felt in the forest proved that. She didn't need bad thoughts that could influence her decisions right now!

However, when Star reached the outskirts of the town around the castle, her smile disappeared.

The outer walls of Mewni, which looked so mighty in her original dimension, were no more. There were only a few sections still up, far between and almost unrecognizable in the distance and the moon light, barely definable as stumps. The big entrance, which was always guarded by mewman knights, was nowhere to be found, and Star entered the town simply by walking over a large pile of debris, located where the gate should've been.

The wreckage didn't end there. The town itself was a ghost of its former glory, as most of the shacks and buildings that were present in the lower parts of the town had been razed to the ground. Star also saw carbonized remains here and there, the unmistakable sign that fires had also broken out and took the buildings down with them. She kept walking, her eyes scanning her surroundings while she kept hugging herself, as if she wanted to somehow protect herself from the view of the destruction that was everywhere around her. With that image, the few houses that were still up were like ghosts in a cemetery, stalking about with some sort of curse that doomed them to a permanent vigil… they did not help Star feel better at all.

The relative silence was unnerving her as well. The Forest had all the noises and sounds of nature that she was used to, even if that included wild animals calling out and growling at her. This… it was not natural. Far from it.

"Things went… awry here…" she told herself. "I hope Mom is okay…"

The situation did not get any better the deeper Star went, and by the time she was close to the inner walls that protected Butterfly Castle itself, she was confused and upset. She couldn't wrap her mind about what could've possibly caused this level of destruction. It was like whoever… or whatever had caused this, had done it with the specific intent of making the entire place uninhabitable.

It was very different from what Meteora had done in her own dimension… she had sought only to suck the souls of all the inhabitants that crossed her path, and then take the throne for herself while causing large amounts of damage in the mean time. Yes, she had brought ruin to Mewni as well, and right now the castle had been abandoned in her home dimension… but the damage back there was basically a minor annoyance compared to _this!_

The inner ward walls were in slightly better shape, but the portal was gone in any case and Star didn't have to do anything but keep walking, passing over more metal and stone remains. After that there wasn't much space left to traverse, and she soon found herself within the ruined castle's walls.

If the silence outside was disturbing, the almost complete lack of sounds in the stronghold's hallways made it hard for her to actually concentrate. Nevertheless, after going through the lobby, Star started to travel through the corridors.

She didn't even dare to shout for her mother's name. The sinister atmosphere had the better of her… not to mention that the destruction she had witnessed in the town had progressively convinced her that being careful and quiet was a good option in this case.

The fact that the corridors themselves were in better shape didn't help in keeping her nerves under control. There were numerous holes and fractures in the walls that let her see through and check the ruined town, which appeared even more gloomy when taken as a whole from the upper floors of the castle. Basically every single window she could recognize had had its glass cover shattered, the doors that hadn't been slammed off their hinges and left to root on the floor were rare, the rugs that decorated the corridors at home were either missing, likely stolen, or ragged and torn. The same could be said for all of the more precious ornaments that Star remembered from home. Not to mention the paths that abruptly ended in literal air, showing her the parts of the castle that had completely collapsed to the ground.

At some point during her walk in the castle, she saw a knight armour on the floor in front of her. At first, she believed that it was one of the armours that were present in some parts of the castle, resting on stands as either pieces of elaborated furniture, or ready for nearby castle guards to use.

Then she noticed the phalanx bones sticking out of the arm with a missing glove piece, and she let out a yelp.

Turning away, Star started to walk in a random direction, shooing away all of the thoughts that kept nagging her mind, telling her all the possible scenarios that had led Mewni to this state. "T-this isn't my real home," she told herself. "And no matter how bad it got in this version-of-Mewni-that-definitely-is-not-and-will-never-be-the-one-that-is-my-home, I can fix it… or I can help… or do something!"

She needed her mother, now more than ever. Her best bet for finding her were the main throne room, where Moon spent a lot of her time, and her office and private quarters. There had to be something in any of those places that could give her an idea where to start looking.

Since the scenario that Moon was actually in this castle all along meant that…

…no, she wasn't here. That was… that _had_ to be the case. She was elsewhere in Mewni.

Star shook her head and tried to orient herself. When she looked around, though, she realized that she'd ended up nearby the tapestry room, which as a little girl she'd personally dubbed 'grandma room'.

Visualizing mentally a map of the castle, she concluded that the closest place in the castle from here was the throne room. Star didn't start walking in that direction right away, though. She instead moved into the tapestry room, walked until she was at the very centre, and stood there for a few seconds while looking at the walls of the long room.

She was sure this was the room where the lives of her ancestors were narrated, her memories of the castle from back home left no doubts about it. However, the tapestries that gave the name to the room were gone in this dimension. Which at this point wasn't very surprising… but there was a bit of curiosity in Star, half-scared and half-attracted to the idea of discovering what the queens were like in this dimension. Perhaps, seeking more information about what had happened to this dimension, could give her at least something to work with.

Yet, all she could see were old cloth tatters that were dispersed everywhere. Impossible to tell apart from each other, it was like seeing a pile of dirty clothes in the dungeon of the Knight of the Wash.

Yet… there was an exception. Star walked closer to a particular big tapestry portion and realized that this one was big and conserved well enough to retain a discernible image. The colour was almost completely gone, but the line-art was very much still clear enough to let Star tell who the pictured queen was.

"Brr… of all queens, it had to be Solaria?" she shuddered as she walked up to the tapestry fragment and picked it up. Upon closer inspection, the lighting bolts on Solaria's cheeks told her that her guess had been a right one.

However, there was something different in it. She remembered Solaria's tapestry, the valiant queen taking on a horde of monsters, her eyes closed into a furious attack with her sword wand drawn out.

The tapestry fragment only showed Solaria's face and her upper body, but it was enough to let Star know that the original image had to be far different from the one she remembered. Solaria here was still valiantly facing what Star guessed was a horde of monsters… but Solaria's eyes were open in the pictured scene. She also wasn't in an attacking pose… rather, she wielded a sword similar to the sword hand of the original Solaria, but metallic and very much concrete and unmagical, ready in her right hand.

It took her a while to realize that the wand wasn't the sword here. This Solaria also carried a shield with red decorations going through the entirety of it, the crystal being a lightning bolt fixed at the very centre. Solaria's expression was fierce, yet resolute and calm. That was her wand.

Star let the tapestry fragment fall down, diverting her eyes away from the image. Seeing the picture of a probably much more reasonable version of Solaria should've reassured her… the problem was that it didn't change the state Mewni was in. Between Solaria's reign and now, there had been a total of eight queens. Everything could've happened since then…

"No more distractions…" she told herself as she left the chamber and resumed her search.

* * *

Star's mind was clouded as she made her way to the throne room. If the little she'd taken from the tapestry section she'd found was anything to go by, it was clear that things had been different in this dimension for a very long time. It wasn't just a case of when and where her mom lost a battle that had costed Mewni its capital…

The more Star thought about it, the less familiarity she felt as she walked in the corridors of the Butterfly Castle.

She was very close to the throne room when the utter silence was broken. Star froze when she heard rustles in the distance, the clear noise of metal armour falling on the floor with loud clangs. She remained immobile for a few seconds, listening attentively.

…

She wasn't alone here.

Quickly, she ran into the throne room. As most other places in the castle, this one was damaged and dusty, with the most blatant indication of its status being the fact that the eastern side wall was completely gone, showing the nearby cracked tower, or rather, the half of it that still stood. Star ignored the spectacle and kept running until she was at the top of the throne, then quickly went to hide herself behind the backside of the king's chair.

Her choice had not been random, since the one that was supposed to be the queen's was completely missing.

Star sat there, hugging her knees, and stayed in silence. Her clothes had yet to dry up completely, and soon she started to shiver due to the coldness of the night. However, she forced herself to not chatter her teeth in order to keep quiet.

She didn't know how many minutes passed, but after a while, she began hearing _their_ footsteps.

The intruders were a numerous group of people, considering how many sounds their footwear emitted, and were running as well. The footsteps grew louder until the group of strangers entered into the throne room.

"She must be somewhere in this room!" a voice boomed. Rough and low, Star immediately recognized it as the one of a monster.

Her mind started to race. They knew it was her? And why were monsters in the ruins of Mewni? She… she couldn't believe they were responsible for whatever had happened here. She _refused_ to believe that.

"Shut yer' hole," another voice rebutted. "This is the Queen we're talking about. She evaded us for years, I ain't believing she'd reveal her presence this easily. She may be already out of the castle by now."

Wait… queen? Were they talking about her mother?

"Hush," another voice ordered. "We know someone entered this castle. Whether it's her or another intruder, we have our orders."

Gruff and serious, Star's eyes widened as soon as she heard it. Rasticore!

"You two, stay here with me. We'll search the throne room. The rest of you, get out of here and check the nearby rooms and hallways. Take someone with you at all times, if the one we're looking for is really her, she would turn you into mince-meat with ease if she caught any of you alone."

"She just got to try! I have a score to settle with that murderer…"

"Calm your gills and follow the orders I gave you! And what are you waiting for?! Move it!"

The footsteps continued as the monster mob split up. Star tensed up as she listened to the steps of Rasticore and the two monsters that were left in the room. They started to move around, lifting up stones and going around debris piles, checking every possible hiding place.

"Not here…"

"Not here either… for corn's sake, we're wasting our time."

"Keep looking. We aren't leaving until we've checked the entire room, so shut it and do your job!"

She had so many, _so many_ questions… and there was no one that could answer them. Star was shrewd enough to understand that these monsters were up to no good—this was a situation unlike anything she'd seen or experienced in her own dimension. Without scissors she couldn't just call it a day and get out of there, and turning into her Butterfly form would have just caused the monsters to detect her before she had a chance to conjure a portal up.

She relaxed her arms and checked her palms. She'd tried practicing wandless magic hard ever since she gave the wand to Eclipsa, and while she'd gotten better, fighting wasn't really something she thought she was good at yet.

However, she had no choice but to face these monsters. Perhaps, if she was able to dispatch Rasticore and the other two fast enough, she would have the chance to get out through the gash that ran through the outer wall of the throne room, jumping down and turning into her flying form while falling down.

Star got in a breath of air, then carefully leaned over from the king's seatback to check the room.

Her eyes met the slitted pupils of Rasticore. He was already looking at the thrones when she leaned out.

"MEWMAN!" the Septarian bellowed, but Star was already running up to the nearest monster, a unicorn bear similar to the one who'd served in Ludo's army. The monster turned around, drawing out an axe, but Star's kick was faster. The bear ooffed and went tumbling down.

"Disgusting wench! I'm gonna make you regret ever being born!" another monster, a large triton creature with visible gills, leaped at Star while brandishing a spear. Star opened her hand and whispered to herself a spell name. _'Hot Chili Cupcake Blast'._

When she saw little particles coming out of her palm, she knew it had worked.

The triton's eyes became paralyzed with fear when Star opened her hands to him and released a storm of cupcakes immersed in a red mist. As soon as the pastries impacted on him and splattered, the unusual contents started burning him right away. "Ow, ow, ow! My lungs!" the triton cried out as he grabbed his gills and started to shake them to the air, trying to clean off the very spicy stuffing.

Star began running without looking back—if the shouts from nearby were any indication, the rest of the monster group was running back to the throne room already to help their companions. She aimed for the hole, wanting to jump down and fly away in her butterfly form.

But Rasticore was faster, and rushed before her, blocking her way off. "You are not going anywhere under my watch, little girl. Not if you are a magic user."

Star scowled. "Let me go, Rasticore! I don't want to fight you!"

Rasticore raised an eyebrow, but he did not move. "Stand down. We were not sent here to kill you, but I won't hesitate if you dare attack us again!"

Star shook her head. The Rasticore she remembered was less direct than this one in his threats, but it wasn't unlike him to be that stubborn.

"You asked for this, Rasticore, and don't tell me I didn't warn you." Star raised her hands, once again taking her chances with a wandless spell. "Rainbow Shattering Shockwave!"

The spell worked, but Rasticore didn't just wait for it. He took out something from his vest, which revealed itself to be a wooden shield. It was slightly smaller than a knight shield and it looked old and musty.

Star was sure that the spell she'd used would've just annihilated that feeble defence and sent Rasticore flying. The rainbow-coloured shockwave rushed from her hands towards the Septarian, and Rasticore braced himself.

When the wave reached him, though, the magic immediately dispersed.

Star was speechless. The entire shockwave had vanished out of thin air, leaving only tiny butterfly particles with the seven colours of the rainbow. Rasticore lowered the shield, and his grin let her know that he was well aware of what he'd done.

It was dazzling, and puzzling at the same time… but she didn't have time to ponder over it.

Star tried to come up with another idea, but before she could muster anything up, a fist connected with her cheek.

She was sent rolling on the floor. The punch was so strong that she lost her red headband almost immediately and kept going a few meters before coming to a stop.

Scrambling to recover, she tried to stand up again to face her attacker, but a kick came without notice from behind her, hitting her side. She wheezed out as the wind was knocked out of her, and she tried to crawl out of the way, but another kick came, then another. And another.

Star cried out in pain, but the bear monster that was attacking did not stop. He kept kicking her for a few seconds, repeatedly and unstopping.

"That's enough. Stand down," Rasticore growled.

"This mewman wench has kicked me, Rasticore! I'm gonna make sure she learns her manners by giving her a piece of her own medicine back. And you ain't stopping me from—"

"I said that is enough! Stand back or I'll make sure to have your head next in line to be placed on a pike over the walls of the Bastion!"

The kicks finally stopped. Star gasped for air as she clutched on her stomach and side. She had never been beaten this hard… every time she had been beaten, the monsters usually left her space to recover for a seconds before the next round, or simply pinned her down in order to gloat over their victory. They never… kept kicking. And punching. And beating her.

She rolled on her back as she kept gasping, and she found herself surrounded. Most of the monsters around her were lightly armoured or with simple vests, but all of them were armed with very sharp-looking weapons. Star groaned as she kept her hands fixed on her chest, as every breath had become painful. But she still looked at the only member of the group whom she recognized.

"W-why…?" she managed to let out.

"Why? You crossed forbidden territory, mewman girl, that's why," Rasticore explained, leaning down to get closer to her. His grin had disappeared, and he was glaring at her with an irritated gaze.

"No mewman that lives under General Toffee's rule has the right to come back to this castle and the town, no exceptions. You ignored that rule, attacked warriors on guard duty, and used… magic against us! You are in trouble, young girl, and have a lot of explaining to do… be glad that I didn't let my men keep going at you. Mercy is something your kind doesn't deserve, but since you are a magic user, I'll interrogate you later, and I'll need you to be functioning by then. For now, if you care about your life, you will shut your mouth."

"T-Toffee?" Star coughed, as if the word itself was poison.

A foot came down on her chest. Star wheezed out as the triton monster pinned her down with all of his weight, trapping a hand of her below his foot and making her breaths even more hoarse and strenuous. "Did you even listen to him, wench!? Shut your freaking mouth or I'll make you by cutting your vocal cords right here and now!"

Star whimpered, but she didn't speak further.

"We're wasting our time here," Rasticore turned around, losing interest in their recent capture of his warband. "Tie her up, and the biggest of you, take her on your shoulders. If she keeps rebelling, just—"

"C-captain!"

"What?!"

A monster with the face of a lion had kneeled beside Star with some ropes already in his hands. However, those ropes were forgotten as he pointed at Star's face, agitating his paws.

"Rasticore, this wench's got cheek marks. Corn be damned… s-she's a Butterfly!"

"I am _not_ in the mood for quips," Rasticore turned around, very much not amused.

"I am not kidding you, captain. Check it out yourself! She's got pink hearts!"

"Ugh, very well. Pull her up."

The triton monster took Star by the neck with his wet, slimy hand, roughly raising her up. Star was still trying to recover her breath but tried her best to stabilize on her own legs and breath in as much air as her pressed windpipe let her do.

Rasticore leaned down again and took her cheek in his hand, pinching it hard as he observed her skin. His reptile pupils became slits as soon as he saw her pink heart.

"I… I can't believe it. I thought all Butterflies but the Queen were slain years ago," the bear monster uttered. "This brat shouldn't even be alive!"

"I was there when the purges happened. We were all confident that they were all gone…" another monster added.

"It doesn't matter," Rasticore said. "Place a Barrier shield on her chest. She must not try to pull anything off."

Star was disoriented. The monsters kept bringing things up that she had no idea about. The Queen… Toffee… a purge? Too much information. And she was still half-stunned by the beating and trying to recover her breath and focus.

One of the nearby monsters slammed his wooden shield on her chest. Upon contact, Star immediately felt her magic powers suddenly fading, as if the material of that shield was made of was sucking it out of her. But there was nothing flowing out of her body! It was like… her magic was still present, but weakened, giving her the impression that it was leaving her.

How those apparently simple shields were able to affect her and her magic this much, she had no clue. So many things happening all at once, so many questions she had… it was giving her a headache.

However… her mind cleared at record speeds when she saw Rasticore drawing out a dagger from behind his vest.

"Toffee has made it clear to me years ago. If I was to ever stumble again on surviving members of the Butterfly family, we have to kill them on the spot. Hold her down."

…

This couldn't be real.

"W-wait, please, wait!" Star managed to choke out. The hold on her neck simply got stronger, disabling any ability for her to communicate. That didn't stop her from starting to flail her hands and legs around, using all of her energy to find a way out, to get out, to save her life, but more of the monsters grabbed her limbs and blocked any attempt of her to break free.

"Trust me, girl. It's going to hurt less if you don't squirm," Rasticore said gravely as he brought the dagger closer to her stomach. Star tried to shout, to scream, but all she could do was emit muffled wheezed. Her eyes filled up with tears as she suddenly realized that she was done for. Rasticore, unmoved by her reaction, brought the dagger to her skin. She felt the pointy end poking her stomach through her dress.

Then, she heard the sudden energy discharge sound of a large spell going off nearby. A monster flew in the air.

" _The queen is here!"_

"Regroup! Shields up!"

Star was forgotten, all hands letting her go as the monsters rushed towards the attacker. She fell on her bottom, but the pain forced her to lie down. It took her a few seconds to register the fact that yes, she was still alive.

When she looked up, she saw chaos. Spells were being thrown around by a figure in a cloak, taller than most of the monsters, at the centre of the throne room. The majority of the warriors were wielding wooden shields similar to Rasticore's and the spells were either diverted, or completely negated by them just as easily as hers was, but the stranger wasn't just using magic. They brandished a spear with which they kept the monsters at bay with their right hand.

"I'm gonna kill you! _Die, die!"_ the triton monster yelled as he leaped, wielding a shield and with a rusty sword in his free hand. The stranger thrust the spear forward, and Star saw blue blood being drawn.

"AAACK!" the triton fell down, rolling on the floor and clutching on his shoulder as the stranger used another spell without uttering a word, turning around. The jerk was so sudden that the cloak's hood fell off, revealing flowing silver-blue hair.

"Stay close to each other, and move together! Get her!" Rasticore's order came, and all of the monsters bellowed and rushed at the woman at once. However, she simply jumped up and out of the way, extending an arm. Star saw Moon's regal wand, shining blue with her peculiar crystal head in the shape of a heart. The hilt, however, was black, but the shape and crystal colour still left no doubts on what wand it was.

The wand emitted a wall of fiery fire. The monsters raised their shields, but some were either too slow or simply didn't have the luxury of owning one ofthose magic-absorbing tools, and they ended up being singed by the spell. They cried out or yelled in pain, running amok and out of the room.

The stranger fell down among the chaos, as flames kept going up and started burning nearby wooden debris that still were able to fuel the flames, and raised her spear, the sharp point glistening in the light of the fires.

Then, she took the initiative.

The monsters screamed and tried their best to defend themselves, but the woman was relentless and didn't give them a second to rest, thrusting and agitating her spear agilely. Some tried to fight back, but most ran off, a couple even jumping off the hole in the wall of the room. Most were hurt and sent retreating due to their injuries.

In the end, Rasticore was the only one left standing in the room, and he didn't back down. He wielded a broad sword, his dagger dropped minutes earlier, and when the woman ran at him, he simply growled and rushed forward himself. He battled with her on equal terms, blocking her thrusts and neutralizing the few spells she sent at him with the shield that he held on his left forearm. The battle lasted long enough for the nearby magical flames to die down.

Rasticore growled and hissed multiple times during the fight. "You should've died a long time ago, Butterfly!"

The stranger didn't reply, but the spear came down harder from above. Rasticore diverted it with his sword, then decided to go forward with a direct punch, using the arm that carried the shield on the forearm. It connected, sending the stranger back and close to Star.

She was able to get a glimpse of her face.

"M-Mom…" Star said in awe when she saw her mother's face. Younger… much younger. She in fact looked much closer to her younger self in the tapestry at home, than her current look as an adult… but it was _her._ She had no doubt about it.

Moon glared at the Septarian with a frown, her gaze hard enough to scare off even Star herself despite not being on the receiving end. However, Rasticore wasn't deterred—on the contrary, he grinned at her, amused by her anger. "How does it feel like, to be the Fallen Queen? Heh, despite everything I heard about you, I have to hand it to you, you are much braver than your mother… she was far from being this valiant when we beat her down right before we took her slimy life out of—"

Moon screamed and leaped at Rasticore like a rabid animal, thrusting her spear forward. Rasticore instinctively raised his shield, and the metal of the spear's pointy tip easily went through, gashing his arm. "Augh!"

She wasn't done though, as she let go of the spear and proceeded to punch the Septarian in his snout with her hand, which was covered with a long glove almost reaching all the way over to her shoulder. She then kicked him back, grabbed the spear and extracted it from the shield. As Rasticore cursed and stumbled, she rushed at him again and went for a side attack, the spear coming from the left side of the monster.

Rasticore moved his sword to intercept it the best he could, but Moon had the hand wielding the wand lighting up with magical energy. Rasticore still had his shield up to protect himself, but Moon aimed at the sword rather than him.

The blast went off, and the sword flew away. The spear came to Rasticore's side without anything to stop it, and it went through his scales.

"Crap—uuuugh!" Rasticore croaked. He stepped back, clinging on his side, and fell on his knees.

Moon approached him, spear still in her hand. Rasticore let out a dry laugh as he put pressure on his injury.

"Heh… a Solarian-enhanced weapon. I should've known."

Then, he glared defiantly at her, not a trace of fear in his face.

"Your kin brought only despair to Mewni. I die knowing I tried to rid my home of your filthy blood, mewman."

"You will die, and that's gonna be the end of it, scum," Moon growled. Her voice was raspy and cold, yet still carried her specific accent. She raised her gloved hand, holding on the wand up. "I call the darkness unto me… from deepest depths of Earth and sea."

She didn't look away as she recited her words, raising her wand further and aiming at Rasticore's heart. "From ancient evils unawoken—"

"M-Mom! What a-are you doing?!"

Moon's eyes widened when she looked at Star, who limped over to her. Then, she grew serious again. "Stand back."

"Mom, you cannot… you aren't going to k-kill him, are you?"

"I am _not_ your mom. Get out of my sight," Moon hissed at her. Rasticore's defiant gaze was broken as he looked in complete confusion at Star.

"N-no. No, I won't let you. You're… you're better than this! I thought… Mom, he's not… he's not Toffee… but…" Star talked without focus, half-delirious. She managed to reach Moon and grabbed her arm.

Moon immediately shook her off. "I am _not_ your mother! Get out of here now, or I'll _make_ you leave!"

Star relented. She couldn't believe her ears. "But M-mom, you—"

Moon cried out when she turned back and realized that Rasticore was running. She raised her wand. "Utter Destruction Cannonball!"

The wand was enveloped in a cloud, from which a large black sphere was emitted, travelling fast towards Rasticore. He barely managed to disappear through the door before the ball reached the wall.

The ball didn't explode but went through the old stone as if the walls were made of paper. The damage resulted in a collapse of a part of the castle, and a quake going through the entire stronghold. Star heard the monsters from earlier crying out and shouting at each other in the distance, and she fell down to her knees as she held on to the trembling floor.

Moon didn't care and walked up the large castle section she had demolished in a matter of seconds. Now there was a second hole that ran through the castle itself and the nearby hallways and rooms. Moon looked around, inspecting the hallways.

When Star finally came to terms with the fact that the castle wasn't crumbling down over her, it was just in time to hear Moon letting out a shriek. She turned around, and she felt like all the times her mother had lectured her—only fifty times worse. Give or take.

"Who the _hell_ are you and what the hell do you think you are doing, you complete imbecile?!" Moon shouted as she marched up to Star, furious. "You distracted me and gave him a chance to escape! Do you have any idea of what kind of occasion you've just wasted?!"

"B-but… I couldn't let you d-do it! Rasticore, he's not—" Star protested.

"What in the bloody name of Glossaryck led you to think this was a good idea?!" Moon kept shouting, cutting her off. She let the spear go and thrust a finger into Star's chest so hard that she pushed her back. "This was Rasticore Disastervaine. He killed more mewmans than the amount of people your extended family likely ever had! He probably killed your relatives as well!"

"I… I…" Star stuttered, unable to reply.

Moon shook her head. "You know what, forget about it." She went to pick her spear up. "I don't care who you are or why you're here. Just, don't cross my path again."

"B-but Mom…!"

"Why are you calling me your _mom_?" Moon eyed her in annoyance. "I've never seen you before in my life, child… and I don't have time to waste with your fever dreams."

Star shook her head. She walked forward a few steps, standing close to Moon. "You may not know me, but you _are_ my mom. It's complicated, but I can explain! My name is Star! S-Star Butterfly!"

Moon's face expression shifted entirely as soon as Star said her name. She saw complete shock in her as she stared back at her, dumbfounded.

The expression changed again just as quickly… and it made Star think that uttering her name had yet been another mistake she'd made.


End file.
